Obscure

/əbˈskjʊə(ɹ)/ · adjective

Meaning

Dark, faint or indistinct..

Definitions by Sense

1. Dark, faint or indistinct.
2. Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous.
3. Difficult to understand; abstruse.
4. Not well-known.
5. Unknown or uncertain; unclear.
6. (transitive) To render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious.
7. (transitive) To hide, put out of sight etc.
8. (intransitive, obsolete) To conceal oneself; to hide.

Example Sentences

I found myself in an obscure wood.

His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

The obscure bird / Clamoured the livelong night.

the obscure corners of the earth

an obscure passage or inscription; The speaker made obscure references to little-known literary works.

The lock was of a kind that Watt could not pick. Watt could pick simple locks, but he could not pick obscure locks.

The yawning gap in neuroscientists’ understanding of their topic is in the intermediate scale of the brain’s anatomy. Science has a passable knowledge of how individual nerve cells, known as neurons, work. It also knows which visible lobes and ganglia of the brain do what. But how the neurons are organised in these lobes and ganglia remains obscure.

Of all the medical monsters Peter Hotez could have set out to slay, the Yale University researcher could not have chosen a more wily and obscure villain than the hookworm.

Synonyms for obscure

Antonyms for obscure

Related Words

Word Forms

• obscurer
• more obscure
• obscurest
• most obscure
• obscures
• obscuring
• obscured

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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